


Tiny, Little Moments

by InsaneRedDragon



Category: Altered Carbon (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Developing Relationship, M/M, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 15:56:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16162130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsaneRedDragon/pseuds/InsaneRedDragon
Summary: "May I?" Poe asks as he pulls a lighter out of thin air with an exaggerated flourish.Kovacs doesn't bother restraining his eye roll, but he still leans into the flicker of the flame as Poe strikes the lighter.--For the prompt: Poe gets in the habit of lighting up Kovacs cigarettes (and them growing closer in their relationship in parallel to that).





	Tiny, Little Moments

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elletromil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elletromil/gifts).



"May I?" Poe asks as he pulls a lighter out of thin air with an exaggerated flourish.

Kovacs doesn't bother restraining his eye roll, but he still leans into the flicker of the flame as Poe strikes the lighter.

When he pulls back, Kovacs catches Poe's staring. They hold each other's gaze as Poe snaps the lighter shut, flame extinguished. 

It takes Kovacs longer than it should, especially for an envoy, to realize that the warmth he feels on his face is no longer coming from the fire in Poe’s hands, but is coming from the heat in his eyes.

\--

“Allow me.”

Kovacs turns around slowly, his eyebrow raised with curiosity. But Poe simply smiles and materializes beside him. 

The lighter’s already lit and waiting in front of him, so Kovacs moves forward the hair's breadth it takes to put the cigarette in the flame.

He pays closer attention this time. Poe's unusually quiet, and Kovacs watches how his eyes track the movement of his hand when it comes to his mouth and pulls the cigarette away.

Before Kovacs can ask why he keeps offering to do this, Poe looks away and materializes on the other side of the room.

\--

Everything hurts when Kovacs sits on the stool beside the bar. He grits his teeth as his body protests the movement.

Pain shoots down his arm as he reaches for his pack of cigarettes. It’s barely out of his pocket when it’s plucked from his fingers. 

Poe is quick and efficient as he brings the cigarette to his own mouth and lights it. He takes a single drag, the smoke swirling around his head dramatically, and then gives it back.

The tips of Poe’s fingers brush over Kovacs lips before he pulls away, and Kovacs stops thinking about the pain.

\--

When Kovacs sits up from the bed, Poe materializes on the other side of the room. He hesitates there and it takes Kovacs a moment to realize that he won’t be coming any closer. So he stands to grab a cigarette and makes his way to him instead, heedless of his nudity.

Poe lights his cigarette and avoids looking any lower than his chest. There is a flush high on Poe’s cheeks, and Kovacs is set to ask him why an AI needs to blush when Poe’s face turns stony and he disappears.

From behind him, Kovacs hears Ortega stir.

\--

It’s become a routine, a comfort. Something Kovacs didn’t realize he depended on to keep him here, keep him going. It's grown from offers when Poe is already materialized in the same place as him to Poe appearing in the sanctity of Kovacs room when his hand even starts moving towards his cigarettes.

So when Kovacs pulls out the cigarette and waits, when Poe never comes, he finally lets it sink in that he’s gone.

The room is empty and lifeless in a way it has never been even when he was alone, and Kovacs lets the first tear fall.

\--

This sleeve is new, grown just for him, so there’s no physical addiction. But Kovacs mind isn’t so clean, and he already has a cigarette dangling from his lips when he realizes he doesn’t have a lighter.

“May I?”

Kovacs turns around to find a man standing behind him. He pulls a lighter from his pocket with an exaggerated flourish, and Kovacs’ heart skips a beat. He looks into the man’s eyes and the familiarity makes him stop.

“Poe?”

His synthetic face shifts until there are familiar features that he never thought he’d see again around those eyes.

“Hello Kovacs.”


End file.
